Greed is winning America’s power struggle

March 15, 2013

There are some Republicans pulling away from the Tea party contingent and that is refreshing. Gov. Kasich is embracing the expansion of Medicaid, part of the "Obamacare" program. Even though the majority of people favor making health care available to more people, the Republicans may still block it when it comes up for a vote.

Ohio Congressman John Boehner has brought up three bills in the House for a vote which the majority of Republicans were against but which passed with Democratic help. It seems that there are many Republicans that are still out of step with the majority of people in this country.

However "greed" seems to be winning in the battle to balance the country's budget and to get our fiscal house in order. It is obvious that there needs to be a combination of additional revenue and spending cuts. Yes, the payroll tax has been reinstated that funds Social Security and President Obama succeeded in getting a tax increase for the wealthiest of the wealthy but the Republicans still refuse to consider closing all the tax loopholes that still exist and some CEO's continue to pay a lower rate of tax than their secretaries. In Ohio the head of JobsOhio makes more money than Gov. Kasich and it just doesn't seem right that athletes and college coaches (to name a few) make more money than the President of the United States. Then there are the oil companies that are making record profits but they and wealthy farmers continue to receive a government subsidy.

The Democrats are always being accused of trying to "redistribute the wealth" - like take from the rich and give to the poor. I think the opposite is happening. The stock market has never been higher and corporations are doing great. The average worker has made it happen by working longer hours for the same or less pay while the company executives reap the benefits. They even lobby Congress to bring in more foreign workers that they can pay less than American workers. Estate taxes and progressive taxes are scrapped in favor of sales taxes that disproportionately hurt the average person. If corporate heads made a little less, if their workers made a little more and the minimum wage was raised, our economy would be a lot healthier.

The Bible says that those to whom much is given, much is expected. It is my belief that we should all pay our fair share of taxes and support those programs that help people to help themselves and become contributing members of society. It also wouldn't hurt to work on our infrastructure, electrical grid and develop alternative sources of energy and it might even create a few jobs in the process.